Final push is needed to tackle last 1% of polio

The global campaign to stop polio transmission by the end of 2012 needs one last push, an independent report concludes.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was set up in 1988 by the World Health Organization, Unicef, Rotary International and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with governments and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In November 2010 the World Health Assembly convened an Independent Monitoring Board to analyse progress towards the goal of the eradication of polio.

The board’s report says between 1988 and 2000 there was a 99% reduction in worldwide cases of polio; however this has been followed by a decade of stalemate despite spending of over $800m (£496m; €563m) every year.